Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Hens and Roos]

Hello Marans folks!

Glad all of you have made it through the storms, albeit a bit wet! I have been a chicken person for awhile, had guineas for the last couple years and been working on my silkie lines for about the same. Now we have 20 french black copper Marans coming early next week! Whoopee!

These are from a fellow BYCer and Wade Jean lines so I'm super excited! I am trying to get ready for them, so looking into any traits of the breed that might not be what I'm expecting. First question, how fiesty are the chicks? I have an hour old guinea keet fluffing in the hatching bator and a small batch of silkies that are just starting to pip. Do you think these guys and the Marans chicks will do okay together? Guineas are small and don't try to boss, and silkies aren't too peck-happy, so I'm hoping they can be brooder buddies for this first while.

Anybody have any other advice for a noob? I've read around in the thread a bit...enough to make me feel silkie genetics are simple, anyway!

Welcome! Are the Marans chicks going to be a day or two old when they arrive to you? If so your other chicks hatching now will be a little older which might help especially if they are smaller. Best thing is just to watch them once all are mixed together and make sure that everyone is getting along. My Marans chicks seemed mellow and we had 2 bantam leghorns in with them- all hatch mates and they got along even as the Marans got bigger than the leghorns. The mellowness of the Marans seemed to ware off on the leghorns as they are super friendly and want to be picked up! Good luck with your hatch and new one arriving! We like pictures

 

[BarnGoddess01]

They look FABULOUS, Christie!!! Congratulations!!!

Here are my babies 15 minutes after I picked them up from the post office! They were hungry hungry hippos! I had to run back to work. I left my client sitting in the chair ( I own a salon). Everyone knows how chicken crazy I am so they understand, lol!
Tonight they all seem happy and content. I have not harassed them again to inspect them closer. There are BCM, 2 splash, some blue copper and I think two solid blue. Oh the genes I will get to study with these babies!!

 

[pinkchick]

Congratulations! So glad that they all made it safe and sound! They are adorable and I can't wait to watch the blues and the splash grow up.

Here are my babies 15 minutes after I picked them up from the post office! They were hungry hungry hippos! I had to run back to work. I left my client sitting in the chair ( I own a salon). Everyone knows how chicken crazy I am so they understand, lol!
Tonight they all seem happy and content. I have not harassed them again to inspect them closer. There are BCM, 2 splash, some blue copper and I think two solid blue. Oh the genes I will get to study with these babies!!

 

[pinkchick]

Welcome Country Chicken!

Vicki~ As you know I have had many issues with the site of late.....including not being able to upload any photos and with chicks hatching that is a must have feature don'tcha ya know? LOL! Everything seems to be working great this morning.

Debbi~

 

[stream-house]

I have a maran chick.... but she was part of a "rare marans collection" and i don't know her exact breed. she is either a black copper maran or a black colored blue splash maran. does anyone know how to tell? here is her picture. she is a little washed out in this image, she has a lot of copper red around her head and on her body, and she's blacker than she appears here, too. overall, a whole lot less "blue" than this pic would imply. what is she? does the presence of gray mean she's a black blue maran?

thanks!

 

[pinkchick]

Cute little fuzzies!!!!! Rascally little splash wasn't partaking in the group photo for nothing was it? LOL! Even at this young age they have 'tude.

Here is the photo of their Beautiful Blue Copper Marans Chicks

 

[Country Chickens]

Thanks for all the welcomes! We are super excited to be getting Marans. My kids are calling them penguin babies, what with the black and white coloring!

Yes, the Marans chicks will be day old so the guinea will be maybe four or five days old and the other chicks three or four when they come. I'll watch the guinea, but we've raised them with our chicks before and not had issue. It helps that they're such tiny little things even compared to the silkies! Sounds like they Should all work together...let's hope that proves reality!

The new Marans coop and run is ready in all things but the netting for the top of the run. Just goes to show how excited we are to get them cause I know they won't be moving into it for quite some time! But, better to be prepared, right?

Christie, your babies are beautiful!!! So glad they made it safely on their long journey!!!

Welcome! Are the Marans chicks going to be a day or two old when they arrive to you? If so your other chicks hatching now will be a little older which might help especially if they are smaller. Best thing is just to watch them once all are mixed together and make sure that everyone is getting along. My Marans chicks seemed mellow and we had 2 bantam leghorns in with them- all hatch mates and they got along even as the Marans got bigger than the leghorns. The mellowness of the Marans seemed to ware off on the leghorns as they are super friendly and want to be picked up!
Good luck with your hatch and new one arriving! We like pictures

 

[pinkchick]

I have a maran chick.... but she was part of a "rare marans collection" and i don't know her exact breed. she is either a black copper maran or a black colored blue splash maran. does anyone know how to tell? here is her picture. she is a little washed out in this image, she has a lot of copper red around her head and on her body, and she's blacker than she appears here, too. overall, a whole lot less "blue" than this pic would imply. what is she? does the presence of gray mean she's a black blue maran?

thanks!

Too Sweet! I hesitate to say this but I am thinking this little chick is a male.
What is the age of it?
Also, is there a possibility that it could be from Cuckoo Marans? Possibly a mix of 2 varieties of Marans.

 

[stream-house]

these are so cute! did you have any that had red on them at all? i have one with reddish/copper feathers... and am wondering if she's a weird black copper maran or a weird black-blue splash maran! my pic is posted just above your post. lovely chicks!

 

[stream-house]

the chick is 2-3 days old here. she (i hope!) is definitely a pure-bred hatchery chick-- from meyer hatchery.... their collection says she can be either a black copper or a blue splash. what makes you think she might be a roo?